


Judgement

by Sweets_Thief



Series: Dredd AU [1]
Category: Dredd (2012), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Dredd AU, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Murder, minimal Kylux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 06:58:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10657314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweets_Thief/pseuds/Sweets_Thief
Summary: Judge Armitage Hux is a legend in the city of Coruscant for his work with his twin, Judge Brendol "Techie" Hux, who was killed in action, the First Order Hall of Justice believe he is the only Judge that can take on rookie Judge Kylo Ren.After two months of working together they end up in Peach Trees, the criminal block where Techie was killed. Their work inside the block reveals the truth of the accident that claimed the life of Hux's twin ten years ago.





	Judgement

**Author's Note:**

> I WATCHED DREDD FOR THE FIRST TIME RECENTLY AND I GOT REALLY INSPIRED FOR A DREDD AU WHERE HUX AND KYLO WHERE ACTUALLY JUDGES.
> 
> so here it is :L  
> it took me a long time to write it and I'm not super happy with it. There are going to be two other fics in this universe as well, dealing with the aftermath of finding Techie and also Kylo's first mission with Hux! 
> 
> Also just a reminder, I have a competition running on my other fic [Oculorum ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10251014/chapters/22726427) where you can win a free Kylux fic from me!! So if you're interested check it out!

 

 

It was always easy to view the world as a decimated wasteland with so little to offer when life had decided to take its toll. And to Hux, that was what the world was. Or rather, what was left of his country was. Arkanis had been destroyed for a long time now, existing as mostly desert areas with one large city surrounded by high boundary walls. It wasn’t exactly the paradise one would expect with a city in the middle of the desert either. No, it was a city full of crime and concrete buildings and every day new blocks were being erected and slums were growing and people were dying and it was a chaotic world.

There was only one source of order in the city that had become known as Coruscant, the sprawling city with no living creature except for humans and the odd animal. The First Order Hall of Justice, men and women fighting for control over the corrupted and dying city.

Juries.

Executioners.

Judges.

Hux was the latter out of the three, and he was good at his job. The most ruthless and well know of the Judges in all of Coruscant, but he was only known as Judge A rather than his last name. He worked alone, which was frowned upon by the council for the Judges, as most went into dangerous areas and situations that would usually require backup. Hux had given up caring on that ten years ago when he had refused to use his surname anymore.

“ _Responders needed at a square in sub-sector 20. Shots reported fired out of a vehicle driving erratically.”_

A typical day, Hux thought as he powered up his bike and took off into the crowd of traffic already sprawling throughout the city. The location was close to him, and even had it not been Hux would have been the one to get there first anyway. It was not lost on him that he was the best and no Judge could do the job the way he did.

“ _Any Judges, please respond.”_

“Hux to control,” He replied immediately as he weaved in and out of traffic. The blue van was in front of him, waving across the road. It was evident to him the men driving were using some sort of drugs, and he glared at the back of the van as if his stare could stop them in their tracks. “In pursuit. Suspects are under the influence of narcotics, I will be taking them down.

“ _Do you require any backup, Judge A?”_

“No.” Hux said shortly, shutting off his comm and focusing entirely on following the van instead.

The occupants of the van seemed to have realised that he was following them, as bullets soon began to fly. It was easy enough to avoid them, and normally it would have made Hux’s blood boil that these criminals were involving innocents, but he was too tired with the world to care today. All that mattered was taking them down and getting the result. Everyone in Coruscant was used to gun fights between gangs, if they weren’t expecting it then there wasn’t a lot that could be done. The men in the van were so occupied with Hux that they didn’t notice a young man crossing the street and they struck him. He was dead before he hit the ground, his blood splattered across the windshield of the van. Hux drove past the body, ignoring the screams of those around him, and used one hand to reactivate his comm. The death of an innocent made it easier for him to use excessive force to bring the others down.

“Control, this is A. The perpetrators just killed an innocent, I’m taking them down.” He grunted.

He didn’t give them time to respond, and Hux didn’t need one. Activating the guns hidden in the front of his bike, Hux began to fire. The rest of the chase passed in a blur of death, injuries and blood for Hux, until he was facing down the last man in the kitchen and shooting a “hot shot” bullet directly into his mouth, killing and cooking him at the same time and saving the kitchen worker. It wasn’t good when he lost himself in the job like this, Hux knew. This was when he used force that was frowned upon even by his superiors, preferring methods of cruel deaths that no one was ever happy about. He hadn’t been reprimanded for it yet considering his reputation as a Judge, but it was only a matter of time.

“ _Control to A. Come in A. Is your pursuit resolved?”_

“Yes.” Hux said, rolling his shoulders as he made his way back to his bike.

“ _Report back to the Hall of Justice, the Chief Judge wants to see you.”_

Hux cursed silently as he began the journey back to the Halls of Justice. This was going to be the case that got him in some sort of trouble, a case he had worked by the book. Granted, there had been a lot of civilian death in this pursuit, but Hux wouldn’t have been able to prevent that. It was a shame that many in the Halls of Justice didn’t see it that way.

Chief Judge Sloane was waiting for him at the entrance to the Hall with a grim expression. Hux climbed from his bike and approached her, his footsteps loud on the glossy floor of the reception as he followed her into the building. It was only when he and Sloane were alone in front of an interrogation room one-way mirror that Hux removed his helmet and swept his ginger hair back into place.

“Welcome back,” Sloane began with a soft smile.

Hux didn’t return the gesture. “What are we doing here, Chief Judge?” He asked, eyes fixed on the window.

Inside the room was a man with long dark hair and brown eyes and dressed in a Judge uniform. He was lounging in the chair looking bored, tipping the chair back and forth with one foot, but Hux could see the nervous tenseness in his shoulders.

Sloane didn’t seem too perturbed by Hux’s attitude for she was used to it. “This is Kylo Ren.” She began.

Hux held back a scoff at the name and Sloane’s eyes narrowed at the potential interruption.

“My apologies Chief Sloane. Please continue.”

“Rookie Ren is thirty years old. He was born in a block only one-hundred meters from the radiation boundary wall, and he lost both parents at age seven from residual-fallout cancer. Since then he was taken under the wing of the criminal mastermind Snoke.” Sloane paused, watching Hux for a reaction to the name.

Hux managed to keep his expression blank, but he knew the name. Snoke had been a criminal mastermind working on the outskirts of Coruscant who had his own versions of Judges, named the Knights. Hux had been charged to take him down with his then partner and it hadn’t been a problem to take Snoke down. He hadn’t seen anyone of Kylo’s appearance during the attack, but he didn’t like where Sloane was going with this.

“As you know, we normally test orphans when they are nine, but we did not acquire Kylo until his early twenties. We gave him the aptitude test for becoming a Judge and it classified him as unsuitable, but he was entered into the Academy on special instruction anyway.” Sloane continued.

“Were his parents important people before they died by any chance?” Hux asked, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

“His parent’s identities are not important.” Sloane replied, “Moving on, he managed to pass the Academy training despite the outcome of the test, but only just, and it took him a little longer than most.”

“I really, really don’t like where this is going,” Hux muttered, voicing his annoyance to Sloane. He folded his arms and watched as Kylo continued to push himself back onto two legs and let it go.

“After the Academy, Rookie Ren has never managed to pass an assessment.” Sloane ignored Hux’s words again as she spoke, “He does not work well with other.” There was a slight quirk to her mouth that indicated she disapproved of how Kylo was sitting in the chair.  
“Neither do you.”

Hux snorted, “Please don’t tell me you’re going to pair us together, I don’t want a partner. I can tell just from looking at him we won’t be a match.”

“You may have been given a lot of leeway in the last ten years, Hux, but you are still a Judge and you will do as ordered by the Security Council.” Sloane warned him with a low tone. “Let me show you why he has one last chance.” With a sly smile, Sloane pressed the comm button to talk to Kylo.  
“Rookie Ren.”

“Sir!” Kylo’s chair banged back onto the floor as he sat up to semi-attention, eyes fixed exactly where Sloane was stood on the opposite side of the glass.

“How many people are watching you?” She asked.

It only took Kylo a moment to reply, stating, “Two,” nonchalantly.

Hux shifted, head tilting to the side, looking decidedly unimpressed.

Sloane pressed on regardless, “What can you tell me about the person I am with?”

This pause was slightly longer than before, but Kylo replied “It’s a man, another Judge. I can feel extreme control from him…with anger and sadness buried underneath. There’s…something else under that as well. Loss maybe?”

“That will do, Rookie Ren.” Sloane cut in quickly before Kylo could continue. Hux was tense, his finger twitching automatically for his weapon.

“So, he’s a mutant.” He growled, eyes narrowed, “That’s why he’s had so many chances.”

Sloane nodded. “The Security Council have chosen to overlook his failures and inabilities to work with people to clear an assessment because of this, so you will too. I know this goes against all your disciplines Hux, but I am the one choosing you to do this. He’s the most powerful psychic we have ever come across by a huge margin, and it cannot be overlooked. We’re losing the way for this city and it is believed he could be a major asset to us, should he be tamed.”

“You make him sound like a wild dog.” Hux laughed drily. “And you don’t believe that for a second either.”

“No comment.”

Hux sighed, “I understand that the Security Council may believe he can become a Judge, and you may believe that I am the best one for this job, but I don’t want a partner. I’m sure I’ve already made this clear after what happened.”

“Hux-.”

“Please, Chief Judge let me finish,” Hux interupted, “I especially don’t want to be saddled with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, and has failed every assessment they have taken. I’m not being put in charge of someone that could die, not again. Find someone else.”

He turned to leave, grabbing his helmet and moving to replace it as he went when Sloane responded, her tone sharp and demanding.

“There is no one else.”

Hux paused automatically, snapping to attention but keeping his back to her.

“I have listened to you, Hux and I have followed your career closely after the incident ten years ago, but know this. If you don’t do this, Hux, then I cannot protect you from the Council for anything other of your problematic methods.” Sloane continued coldly, “He passed the Academy, but he needs a firm hand, someone like you Hux, to guide him. Everyone else has given up on him Hux, but not you.”

“So, I’m being threatened into this?” Hux queried, “We’re losing the fight for the city but the Council has had enough of me and will kick me out if I don’t start playing by their rules.”

“It’s not a direct threat.” Sloane clarified, “Think of it as more of a warning. Regardless, you do not have a choice here. Now, put on your helmet and I will introduce you. Chuck him in the deep end this time Hux, and see how it works out.”

“As if it isn’t all the deep end.” Hux muttered bitterly under his breath as he waited for Sloane to retrieve Kylo from the room, jamming his helmet back on. He watched through the window, listened as she explained who Hux was and monitored Kylo’s reactions. His eyes widened at his name, the recognition and the inevitable questions he had.

“So, they’re giving me to an actual Hux?” Kylo grinned as he left the room to greet Hux. Hux’s eyes narrowed, his attitude already rubbing him the wrong way.

Ignoring the question, he beckoned for Kylo to follow him. Sloane walked with them as well, probably monitoring how Hux dealt with Kylo. “You’re not classified even as a Rookie Judge in my opinion,” He snapped, cutting Kylo off as he attempted to speak again, striding right for the exit of the building.  
“You’re less because you can’t pass a simple assessment. One in five don’t survive the first day, and yet you’ve not only survived, you’ve failed to make a lasting impression. This is your last chance, so make sure you pay attention.”

Kylo went to speak again, only for Sloane to cut him off this time.

“Don’t look so cocky,” She admonished him, “Judge Hux is the best of the best, as you probably know, and if he decided you are a fail than it is final this time.”

Kylo blinked in surprise, an uncertain expression on his face now as he undoubtedly read the truth in the air with his powers. Hux had to stop himself from looking smug then.

“Pay attention.” Hux repeated, sneering. “As I’m sure you’re aware, you may have to carry out on-the-spot executions. Then again, considering your background, I doubt that will be a problem.”

“No, it won’t.” Kylo ground out, frowning at Hux.

“Incorrect sentencing is an automatic failure. Disobeying a direct order from your assessment officer is an automatic failure. Losing your primary weapon or having it taken from you is an automatic failure. Do you understand that?” Hux demanded, rounding on Kylo and stopping him from walking out of the reception area.

“Yes.” Kylo replied, arms folded.

Sloane watched the confrontation, an unreadable expression on her face as the two clashed.

“If you ever try and read my head again to find out who I truly am,” Hux hissed, right up in Kylo’s face, “I’ll put a bullet in yours.”

“Is he allowed to threaten me?” Kylo inquired, glancing at Sloane. He wasn’t worried, both of them could tell that, but he didn’t doubt for a minute that Hux would kill him and he was a slightly perturbed.

Sloane began to walk away from them, shrugging as she replied. “I didn’t hear a threat.”

\--

Their first call was easy enough, and although Kylo would have normally failed, Hux grudgingly gave him a pass because he could see the potential in the man. Their personalities clashed but they managed to work well together despite that, and Kylo was just as ruthless as Hux and he liked it. Of course, this didn’t stop Hux from shooting Kylo when he asked about the story of the Judge Hux twins and incapacitating him. As punishment, Sloane ordered that they become partners full time now that Kylo was a certified Judge, or Hux would face punishment.

By the time came for the triple homicide at Peach Trees, Hux and Kylo had been working together for two months, and had slowly begun to build a way of working together. Kylo had realised that Hux never relaxed, never allowed his work personality to fade even when he wasn’t on the job. After a month of working together, Kylo had made a move, kissing Hux and Hux had pushed him away and threatened to shoot him. It soon became clear that there was a lot of sexual tension between them as well as animosity and Hux gave in, but after Kylo had taken Hux apart with his fingers and tongue, a call came through the comm and Hux had pushed Kylo off and gone to work. Kylo had been left naked, horny and annoyed. They hadn’t talked about it since, and Kylo had decided to bide his time and see if he could slowly break through Hux’s complete focus on work.

When they worked, Kylo’s psychic abilities were extremely useful, as he could locate the right criminal and give Hux the correct judgements. Hux was the more adept one at keeping up with them and executing the judgements. He killed more people than Kylo did, leaving Kylo to break their minds with his powers if they needed to be taken back to the Hall of Justice.

Peach Trees.

Hux was in no hurry to return to that place, and he knew Kylo could sense it as they approached the block on foot. His hands were tightly curled into fists and his mind was racing as memories came flooding back. He had always avoided this block, no matter the crime, but Kylo enjoyed the homicides more than any other crimes, they were always ‘more interesting’ in his opinion. Hux didn’t understand, crime was crime to him, but he indulged Kylo from time to time, so he swallowed his fear and agreed to go. But as they got closer and closer and the block towered above them, Hux was consumed by the thoughts of blood, of the mess, of the smell and sight and taste of death, and Techie’s pale skin as he lay amongst the rubble, coughing the last of his breath out and begging Hux to run.

“Are we going in or what?” Kylo asked, his voice breaking Hux from his thoughts gently. He knew of the story of Hux and his twin, but he didn’t know that it had happened in Peach Trees. Still, he had gotten good at reading Hux even without his powers, and knew when Hux was battling his emotions, which was a lot more often now he had a partner again.

“Hux to Control, we’re at Peach Trees and will be taking the homicide.” Was Hux’s response. For a moment, in the shadow of the building but not inside the cement walls Hux could pretend he was going into this place with confidence and pride.

“Are you okay?” Kylo inquired quietly, “Your emotions are all over the place.”

“I already told you to stay out of my head!” Hux hissed, rounding on Kylo and grabbing his arm, “Use your powers on me one more time and I will shoot you.”

“You know I can’t always help it!” Kylo snapped defensively, “You’ve got a loud mind, sometimes I just latch onto it. Besides, shoot me and you’ll die as well. You’re not that desperate to end your life.”

“Sure.” Hux scoffed, “Now, tell me what you know about Peach Trees.”

“It has the highest crime rate in sector thirteen.” Kylo replied monotonously, pulling his arm free of Hux’s grip and continuing his walk into the block with Hux silently panicking by his side. “Unemployment rate of ninety-six percent and more than half of the residential levels here are classed as slums. It’s been two months; do you still need to test me?”

“Yes.” Hux nodded. Spotting a man sitting at the entrance of the block, holding a sign offering services for money, Hux gestured at him. “Judgement?”

Kylo rolled his eyes, “Vagrancy. Three weeks in the iso-cubes, but prioritise murders.”

“Good. You, don’t be here when we get back.” Hux commanded the man, who nodded and promised he wouldn’t be in a quiet voice.

“I don’t get why we deal with those people too.” Kylo muttered as they crossed under the policy tape in the middle of the Peach Trees mall towards three crimson stained sheets. “They’re not exactly doing anything bad, just trying to make a living.”

“Crime is crime.” Hux answered. “Tell me Ren, why do you want to be a Judge? Considering your history, it doesn’t really seem like a job for you. You’ve never spoken of your reasons before.”

“To make a difference I guess,” Kylo shrugged, “To do something? There aren’t a lot of good jobs going in this town. Besides, does it matter?”

“Motivation is everything. Understanding your colleagues and your enemy is everything. Surely someone like you would understand that, given your abilities.” Hux instructed.

“So, what was your motivation?” Kylo asked.

“Getting away from my asshole father.” Hux replied easily, “So you really think you can make a difference? In a block like this?” He gestured around at all the people milling around, at the evident signs of poverty. Seeing it all again, so familiar and yet so different, made Hux feel sick, but he swallowed it down. “Take it, it could be yours if you want it.”

“I was born and raised in a block like this, I worked in one as well.” Kylo said hotly. “I know there are good people here, good families trying to get by around the criminals.”

Hux ignored his answer, much to Kylo’s annoyance, focusing on the paramedic instead and getting the lowdown on what had happened. The three bodies were on the floor, completely boneless from the fall and Kylo lifted back the sheets to examine them. Hux approached as well and drew back the lip of one of the bodies to reveal an icy mark on the upper lip and gum.

“What do you make of that?” He asked.

Kylo frowned. “I don’t know.”

“It’s a cold burn from a Slo-Mo inhaler.” Hux answered for him. There was something in his expression that told Kylo he was within seconds of being sick, and he stood up and moved from the bodies, looking up at the higher levels as if deep in thought. Kylo knew he was really trying to keep control of himself.

“Slo-Mo?” He questioned, “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a new drug that’s just recently been released on the grid. Makes the brain feel as if time is passing at one percent of its normal speed.” The paramedic supplied helpfully. “It’s quite common in Peach Trees.”

“Give me your analysis.” Hux demanded, heading back over to them with a grim expression on his face.

“Two months and everything is still a test.” Kylo said flatly, but he answered nonetheless. “Drugged, skinned and then displayed in public. It’s a punishment killing, someone trying to send a message.”

It was always hard for others to tell whether Hux was impressed by the answers Kylo gave because of his helmet, but Kylo could always feel it. Hux was rarely completely impressed with Kylo, but there was always something in him when Kylo gave the same answer he was thinking. It was getting more frequent that Hux didn’t shoot his ideas down.

“Probably don’t fuck with the Ma-Ma clan.” The paramedic muttered, replacing the sheet on the victim Kylo had uncovered.

Kylo nearly missed his words but Hux picked up on them immediately and he went so tense Kylo actually turned to look at him, thinking something was wrong. He wasn’t entirely wrong and without being able to help himself, he reached out and latched onto Hux’s feelings. Images flashed through his head, an explosion, screams and cries and blood and immense pain and sorrow. Pulling back before his expression gave his actions away, Kylo watched his partner, but he seemed frozen, unable to speak or move.

“The Ma-Ma clan.” Kylo repeated. He had never heard of them, but clearly Hux had.

The paramedic nodded and gestured for them to follow him. “I’ll explain.”

Hux trailed behind, hands clenched into fists again. The medic’s centre was on one of the upper floors, and when they were in there he pulled up a file on the so-called Ma-Ma, or Madeline Madrigal as the file read. As soon as Kylo saw her face he saw images as well, a strong reading just from the mugshot. A man with long ginger hair lying on a table, screaming as Ma-Ma dug out his eyes, another man crying as she sank her teeth into the soft flesh of his dick, and countless other images of violence. His stomach rolled and he stepped back away from the screen. The medic was explaining about Ma-Ma and her clan to Hux, despite the fact that he knew all about them, and each word from the medic made him shake.

“How did she even get away with all of this? Getting the entirety of Peach Trees under her control?” Hux asked in disbelief.

“Do you know how often we get Judges in Peach Trees?” The paramedic responded drily. “The last time some came here it didn’t end well because of Ma-Ma.”

There was another spike of emotion from Hux, and it suddenly all fell into place. The death of the second Hux twin, the accident that had changed Hux completely, had happened in Peach Trees, and it was all down to the Ma-Ma clan. Kylo felt incredibly guilty in that moment for bringing Hux back here, and he opened his mouth to apologise when he felt Hux’s eyes turn to him. They were narrowed under the helmet and he was daring Kylo to speak to him, daring him to give him a reason to shoot him.

Kylo spoke to the paramedic instead, swallowing before he said, “You’ve got two now.”

“This is for one case, not for life.” Hux corrected him harshly, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Glowering at him, Kylo waited for the paramedic to continue. He had a clear idea of where the victims had lived in Peach Trees, and Kylo suggested what they should do in order to bring out the ones responsible. Hux looked as if he would rather swallow acid, but he didn’t argue, and soon they were on level thirty-nine, ready to face the clan operations down. Hux was too tense, too angry, fighting too hard to keep control and Kylo knew it too. This had been a bad idea. He shouldn’t have agreed to this, he should have vetoed the idea and never come back here. He couldn’t stay in Peach Trees any longer, if he did he would be overwhelmed and that could have disastrous consequences.

“Aren’t you going to ask me about my helmet?” Kylo asked, holding his gun up to his chest and glancing at Hux.

Hux blinked. Kylo didn’t wear a helmet. It interfered with his psychic abilities but Hux always mentioned it whenever they went on a semi-dangerous mission. Kylo was being clever and sly, trying to get Hux’s mind fixed back on the job at hand and it worked. Whenever he fixated on a job, his memories didn’t bother him.

“I still think a bullet would interfere with your abilities more, but that’s your choice.” He said with a mirthless laugh.

Kylo grinned. It wasn’t something Hux had ever said about his lack of helmet before, and there was a tinge of protectiveness in his tone. Before Kylo could say anything else, the fight with the Ma-Ma clan had begun. The people in the room were shot down without mercy, Hux killing every person that moved without hesitation. When they were faced with one last man, a clan member on his knees, Kylo had to grab Hux’s gun to stop him from shooting him as well.

“This one…he’s one of the ones that skinned the victims downstairs.” He shouted to get through to Hux.

“Are you sure?” Hux growled.

“Ninety-nine percent.” Kylo confirmed.

“Unfortunately, we can’t execute someone on ninety-nine percent.” Hux ground out, his gun still raised but his finger off the trigger.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve killed people without an inkling of their guilt before.” Kylo retorted with a half-grin. “If you don’t want to kill him, let’s take him with us and we can figure out his guilt on the way.”

“Like you haven’t done the same.” Hux said, “I’ve got a better idea for him though.” He added, turning a rather sinister glare to the clan member.

\--

Blue, irritated eyes watched the monitors carefully even as thin, pale fingers twisted copper wires into shape. Flicking between CCTV cameras was a fairly easy job despite the amount of them in the building, and Techie barely saw anything interesting, or important, although many of the images did make him sick. Glancing up at the screen, Techie froze when the camera covering the base of operations on the thirty-ninth floor flashed up a room full of dead bodies, with two bodies walking out with a man in tow.

Fumbling for the tannoy microphone, Techie squeaked out, “Caleb! We’ve got a problem on level thirty-nine.”

“Well, let’s do something about it.” Ma-Ma’s voice made Techie jump, his entire body shaking as she drew closer to him, drawing completely in on himself.

“I…if you want to…do that then we need the Control Room.” He whispered.

“Done.” Ma-Ma shrugged, taking the microphone off Techie and calling for Caleb.

Silence fell among them, broken only by the impatient tapping of Ma-Ma’s foot as they waited, or Techie tapping away at his keyboard and tracking Caleb’s progress. By the time Caleb and his men had secured the Control Room of Peach Trees, Techie had been about to bite one of his nails down to the root in fear of being in such proximity to Ma-Ma for so long. When Caleb put a thumbs up to the camera, Ma-Ma approached Techie’s computer set up.

“Do it.” She ordered.

“Okay.” Techie nodded. Fumbling again for the microphone, Techie patched himself through to the line for Sector Control, playing as one of their guards instead of Ma-Ma’s security man. His voice shook a little bit as he spoke, trying to give himself an idea of what to say.   
“Sector…Sector Control this is Peach Trees control. I…a…I just wanted to make sure you were notified about the def-con systems test today.”

Ma-Ma hovered over him as they waited for a reply, making Techie even more nervous than before. He could have cried when their response was a negative one.

“ _We don’t have anything on the books for you Peach Trees.”_

Ma-Ma shifted next to Techie and he flinched again, digging the heels of his palms into his arms to fight his panic before responding with a more desperate edge to his voice. “God…fucking damn it Sector, I put the notification in three fucking times myself! We are…good to go right now! I have my…my supervisor breathing down my neck!”

“ _Hold fire Peach Trees, let me get on this.”_

Techie rubbed his hands over the rest of his face and mouth, picking at the dry skin on his lips as a way of passing the agonizing seconds before they got a response.

“ _You’re good to go. Hall of Justice and all emergency services are notified to ignore your status. Run the test any time you like.”_

“A…Appreciated Sector.” Techie mumbled, shoving the microphone away and letting out a relieved breath.

Ma-Ma made an appreciative noise and moved to cup Techie’s cheek in a fake gesture of affection. Techie’s breath got a little erratic as she did and his lips trembled.

“Let’s make sure the Judges know how welcome they are.” She crooned, and Techie nodded quickly, pulling his face free. His fingers were already flying across the keys as Ma-Ma’s hand shot forward and got a tight grip of his chin. With just a few clicks and order to Caleb in the Control Room, the lockdown procedure was initiated to lock the Judges inside for their own execution.

“You can speak to them any time.” He whispered, keeping his eyes of Ma-Ma and on the a different tannoy microphone across the room.

\--

Despite the plan he had developed Hux couldn’t fight the overwhelming dread as the blast doors began to close. He, Kylo and the clan member – named Jay, Kylo had said – had made their way to the ground floor of Peach Trees to begin the first stages of Hux’s plan. This wasn’t part of it, but he could work around this. Kylo tensed, gripping Jay’s arm so tightly that he hissed and tried to break free. With his free hand he reached for his gun as the lights went down and red alarms began flashing instead, causing panic among the residents. Hux put a hand on Kylo’s arm to calm him.

“What’s going on?” He asked, inadvertently stepping closer to Hux.

Hux hadn’t been expecting this to happen, and Kylo’s evident confusion actually made the whole plan easier, but he couldn’t speak for the moment to answer. He was beginning to panic again, losing his work focused attitude as the memories of Techie began to flood him again. Kylo pulled his arm free and placed it on the small of Hux’s back, a small gesture of comfort.

With trembling hands, Hux reached for his gun. Kylo’s free hand went to his shoulder instead, forcing Hux to meet his eyes.

“I know this isn’t the best place for you to be.” He said quietly, “Especially now, but you have a plan and you need to concentrate.”

“I’m fine.” Hux muttered, pulling from his grip and scanning the crowd for potential clan members. The lights had come back on, illuminating everything perfectly again, and softening the panic of the residents. Most were quiet and still, waiting for some sort of explanation behind the lockdown.

They didn’t have to wait for long. A female voice began echoing around the entire block.

“ _Peach Trees, this is Ma-Ma.”_ It began. “ _Somewhere in this block are two Judges. I want them dead. Until I get what I want the block is on lockdown. All clan on every level, hunt them down. Everyone else, clear the corridors and stay out of the fucking way. If I hear of anyone helping the Judges, I will kill them and the next generation of their family. As for the Judges…sit tight oy run. It makes no difference, you’re mine.”_

“Let’s move!” Hux commanded, taking advantage of the momentary confusion following Ma-Ma’s words to thrust Kylo towards one of the stairwells. They managed to get through and hide before the block erupted into shouts and panic, the civilians attempting to clear out of the way and clan members yelling that they were going to hunt the Judges down first. Jay came with them. Hux gestured for Kylo to hide inside a small hall in the wall, hidden by a crate. There was nothing inside the hole, and it only just fit the three of them inside, but it gave them a good enough hiding space.

“So…this wasn’t part of the plan, what are we going to do now?” Kylo asked.

Jay slid down onto the floor, but Hux and Kylo remained standing on either side of the hole, backs against the wall and guns in hand.

“We can follow the same plan, with a little bit more stealth.” Hux replied, “We go to Ma-Ma, floor by floor. We take out the clan. I’m going to be relying on you reading the room Ren, tell me which criminals need to die and which need other Judgements. As we clear the floors, we lock any members that don’t need to die somewhere and then carry on.”

“Should we call for backup?” Kylo inquired, head cocked as he heard the sounds of clan members coming towards them.

“We can’t,” Hux whispered, “The lockdown has jammed our comms. It doesn’t matter, I sent a message to Control as we were bringing him down, Judges under fire, so they’ll be sending Judges to us pretty quick. Whether they can get in is another matter.” Hux paused and glanced at Jay. “We’re going to use him as far as we can. He’ll go first, telling the clan members on the floor he’s located the Judges. They’ll follow him to us, and then we’ll take them down. When they figure out our rouse, we’ll just have to get creative.”

Kylo nodded, “Okay, sounds good. And when we get to the top floor?”

Hux’s full attention turned to Jay then, who had been listening to them with an incredulous expression on his face. He didn’t believe that two Judges could take down the entire Ma-Ma clan alone, Kylo read it off him, but he didn’t know them and what they were capable of. And Hux was driven by more than his job.

“You’re going to take me to Ma-Ma when we’ve cleared enough floors.” He said, “Like the original plan.”

“You’ve got to be kidding, right?” Jay exclaimed with a short laugh, “You’re not going to be alive for me to take you to Ma-Ma.”

Kylo held out a hand as Hux made to step forward. They couldn’t afford a fight, not yet, there were other clan members close. “Jay, if you want to live past the next five minutes, you’re going to do as he says.”

“I’m a dead man, anyway.” Jay shrugged.

Hux smirked even as he chewed at a dry bit of skin on his lip, “Do it, Ren.”

“With pleasure.” Kylo grinned.

Hux was always too violent when trying to get information out of people. Kylo could do it silently, provided the person didn’t scream at the intrusion in their head. Jay’s mind was easy to get into, and wasn’t as much of a mess as most peoples were. Kylo rummaged around, making sure Jay knew he was there while he extracted relevant information for Hux to use if Jay continued to be uncooperative. It didn’t take long, and when Kylo came back to his own senses, Jay was begging for mercy and Hux had shot and killed three clan members and was dragging them inside the limited space of their hole.

“I’ve got the useful information we need.” Kylo announced, “But I got something else as well that nails not only him, but Ma-Ma herself.”

“Oh?”

“Peach Trees is the manufacturing base for that drug, Slo-Mo.” Kylo murmured, helping Hux drag the last body into the room. “Ma-Ma controls the entire distribution and production for the entire city of Coruscant, and is benefitting pretty nicely for it.”

“And the Judgement for it?” Hux asked, still smirking.

“Murder and drug charges? Execution.” Kylo stated, “For anyone involved.”

“Mmhmm.” Hux’s smirk turned cold and predatory as he faced Jay. His gun came up and went against the pleading man’s temple. “Now, have you changed your mind?”

\--

Techie’s hands were shaking badly as Ma-Ma nodded for him to answer the call coming into Peach Trees Control from two Judges outside the block. The knife pressing into the soft flesh of his stomach was a good incentive to do as she was asking and divert their attention. He would have to think on his feet, but he was good enough at that.

“Speak, Techie.” She whispered in his ear when Techie’s throat went dry and words failed him because of fear.

“P-Peach Trees, can I help you?” He croaked on command.

“ _We’re responding to a report of Judge’s under fire, open up.”_

Ma-Ma frowned and Techie’s breath quickened. The lockdown should have jammed the comms of the Judge’s in the block, meaning they must have sent a call out before it had come into place. They hadn’t been under direct attack then, so the Judge that had called it in must have anticipated something going wrong. Or bringing more Judges in had been part of a bigger plan. Techie’s mind was racing. The tactic reminded him of…the one person in the world it couldn’t possibly be.

The Judges had been keeping a low profile as far as Techie could tell, for there hadn’t been any sign of them on the cameras. Only one incident had reached his ears, with clan members believing they had seen the Judges on level seventy-six. They had used powerful weaponry to bring them down, resulting in destruction of many homes and the outer wall of the block there. When Techie had checked the security cameras, it hadn’t been the Judges but a civilian rushing home, carrying a new mop and bucket purchase from the mall below. Wherever the Judges were, they were not under fire.

Ma-Ma cleared her throat to get his attention.

“I’m unaware of such activity.” Techie said, voice less shaky as his mind continued to race. “We’re actually undergoing a scheduled defence test.”

“ _Not anymore.”_ The lead Judge responded, “ _Open the blast door right now.”_

Ma-Ma shook her head – as if Techie had even considered that that was an option – and twisted the knife against his skin.

“Yes sir…the problem is we’re having something of a…software malfunction and I have lost control of the system.” He lied quickly. It was not too convincing and Techie was aware of that, and even from the footage of the Judges outside he knew they didn’t believe him. The knife twisted again.  
“We’ve had a fire on level seventy-six.” He added.

“ _You better get control fast, or I’m slapping you with an obstruction of justice charge. Five years in the cubes, mandatory.”_ The Judge warned.

“Will do sir!” Techie exclaimed, “I’m on it right now! Thank you.”

Ma-Ma curled the knife once more, right into Techie’s bellybutton but still not breaking his skin before withdrawing and pulling his shirt back down. Techie whimpered in relief.

“Well done, Techie. Now, let’s see if we can find out who our guests are, and where they’re hiding.” She ordered.

Techie bowed his head and went straight back to his computers, thoughts flying to Armitage again. It wasn’t possible, but it was extremely like his brother. Ma-Ma had told him that Armitage had died that day, that she had killed him before he could escape and now Techie would have to live with the fact that he had failed every day. It was possible that new Judges were being taught the tactics he and Armitage had used during their days as Judges, since they had been the best. But…Techie didn’t dare to hope that his brother had actually survived and had finally come for him. With fast fingers, he brought up all the security footage again and began to comb through it for the fifth time, trying to find the Judges and alert the clan to their location, as Ma-Ma wanted.

\--

Jay was unconscious now and Hux was seething with anger and Kylo was trying to catch up with how it had happened. Hux had had his gun to Jay’s head, and had ordered him to help them and Jay had sneered at him instead.

“ _You think you’re hiding your identity with a badge that just says A?_ ” He had said, “ _You’re A. Hux, the other Hux twin right? Man, I heard what Ma-Ma did to your brother, it was sick.”_

And then he had been unconscious. Hux had managed to refrain from shooting him only because they still needed him, and even then Kylo was impressed that he had. Instead, he had kicked Jay in the side of the head with his armoured boots, knocking him clean out. With him now lying there bleeding and not giving any signs he was going to be waking up any time soon, Kylo knew that he and Hux would have to stay hidden for the plan to work the way Hux wanted it to.

So, Kylo shifted into a more comfortable position, still standing straight and tall against the wall with Hux off to his right, shoulders heaving as he breathed heavily through the anger. The partial look on his face told Kylo he wanted to either pace or kill Jay, and a small read of Hux’s emotions told him the same thing. He needed to distract him.

“Did it really happen here?” Kylo asked quietly, “With you and your brother?”

Hux sighed, his foot tapping against the floor loudly, the only sign of his panic beneath his anger. “It’s not something I really want to talk about right now.”

“I can look,” Kylo suggested evenly, “I’ve already seen flashes and I can read the truth from your emotions anyway, they’re all over the place.”

Beneath his helmet, Hux’s eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would,” Kylo argued, “What did you say before? Understanding your colleagues is everything? I know the story Hux, or the ‘official story’. I’d like to see the truth. Besides, you’re not going to shoot me, and even so, as this plan is most likely going to get us killed anyway, the bullet between my eyes may as well come from you.”

“Don’t say that!” Hux snapped, whirling around to face Kylo, the anger evident even on the small amount of his face that was shown. “I’m not going to let you die!”

“Why do you care? We’re not exactly that close?” Kylo asked, eyebrows raised. “We got close one time and you chose work over me. And it’s never happened since.”

“I…it’s not that I don’t care I just…” Hux struggled over his words for a moment, unsure of how to express his feelings to the man that could read them perfectly anyway. “I haven’t had a partner since Techie died. I didn’t want one, and I definitely didn’t want a rookie. But you’re…different. We’re a good match, despite our differences, but I have to be work focused all the time. If I’m not the other bad thoughts come in. I work until I drop and then work some more. But I’m not about lose another partner to this place, to that bitch!”

The words were slightly touching, and Kylo could see where he was coming from. When he had been taken in by Snoke, he had forced himself to continually work to avoid thinking about the life he could have had had with his parents. He had needed to distract himself from the fact that they died believing their son had abandoned them for a criminal mastermind, when in reality Snoke had kidnapped Kylo and forced him to work. The official story was different, but Hux knew the real story. It was time for Kylo to hear his.

Silence stretched between them, punctuated only by their breathing. There was a feeling in the air that told Kylo that Hux was considering how to tell him. Finally, when he was sure there were no clan members searching the stairwell again, Hux began to speak.

“The official story is that we were reckless, went in alone and paid the price. That Techie got caught in a blast protecting me and like a coward I only thought about my own life and ran. I shot the man who came up with that story, but it was too late to stop it circulating. Of course, they didn’t paint me as a coward, but that’s how I felt the story made me seem. You know how official stories are.” Hux paused to take a calming breath.

“Oh I do. My real story and my official story are different.” Kylo nodded, “Take your time.”

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Hux shook his head, “I’ll keep it brief. Techie and me, we were the most renowned Judges in Coruscant. We could take anyone down alone, even your old master, Snoke. The accident that finished that happened here, in Peach Trees. There’s always been a power struggle here, until Ma-Ma, and we knew it. We did some recon before going in on what we thought would be a normal drug bust, but even still we asked for backup and Control denied us that, so we went in alone. Ma-Ma was just beginning to take control, and she laid a trap for us, and we weren’t expecting it. Techie got caught in the subsequent explosion and died protecting me.” Hux paused again but Kylo remained silent this time, giving him all the time he needed to gather himself.  
“The official report says I ran. And Techie was begging me to run, to escape but I refused. I was shot by one of the clan, I nearly died myself covering his body from further harm. Other Judges finally responded and they forced me to leave, dragged me away from his body kicking and screaming. They wouldn’t let me take Techie’s body, they left him here to rot. That’s why I’ve been so on edge here I just…every time I take a breath or look around I’m reminded of what happened, of what Ma-Ma did.”

There was an overwhelming sorrow exuding from Hux, and Kylo had to blink back tears as it washed over him. Images of Hux, with his hair dishevelled and helmet missing, skin ashen from the explosion and bullet wounds in his armour, came to him. Shots of Hux screaming and crying as he was dragged away between the arms of two Judges whilst the others fought of the clan members there, of Hux reaching for the prostrate body of his brother lying among the rubble of the mall…Kylo tried to close them off but he couldn’t.

Hux was crying. He felt guilt for allowing the Judges to remove him from Peach Trees, and a deeper guilt for having a new partner and…enjoying Kylo’s presence.

“I’m sorry.” Kylo murmured, stepping forward and pulling Hux closer to him, “You should have said something.”

“You like the homicides.” Hux said weakly. “I use what happened here to motivate me to work almost every hour that I can without collapsing but…you were right when you told me I should relax more. When Ma-Ma is dead I will.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Kylo whispered, tilting Hux’s head up slightly to kiss him gently. Hux didn’t push him away straight away, only moving when he heard Jay groan and shift, slowly coming back around.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked, tone brisk and business like and Kylo smiled. This was going to be fun.

“I’m ready.” He confirmed, “Let’s go.”

Using Hux’s plan of having Jay lead the clan members right into Kylo and Hux’s line of fire worked for about fifteen levels and after that they just had to depend on their luck. Jay didn’t have a weapon, and usually had to lie on the floor as Kylo and Hux waited until all the clan members had dispersed from floor to floor. Kylo’s voice was hoarse by the time they got to the higher levels. He had been yelling, “death” and “cubes” in every battle, as well as switching his gun between stun and different bullets. Hux had followed his instruction perfectly, killing those Kylo knew should be judged with death and stunning those that were simply attacking them because they were scared for their own lives.

“We should be getting close now.” Kylo murmured as he locked the door holding fifteen stunned clan members.

Hux nodded, “Definitely, and we’ve got their attention, so let’s move on to phase two.”

“Phase two is where Jay takes you to Ma-Ma, right?” Kylo asked.

“No, phase two is where Jay takes you to Ma-Ma.” Hux corrected him, “You’ll get a read of them, and then we can use it when I come for you.”

“Oh…that’s a change of plan.” Kylo murmured.

Hux pulled Kylo a little further away from Jay before whispering, “Hide your primary weapon somewhere and give them your secondary weapon. It will provide you the opportunity to escape.”

“Are you sure?” Kylo queried.

“Yes.” Hux nodded, “Trust me. Now,” he said louder, dragging Jay back over to them, “Are you ready to take him to Ma-Ma?” He demanded of Jay.

Jay nodded. “There’s a service lift close by. Says it doesn’t work but as long as you choose a level above seventy-five it works. We’ll use that to get to Ma-Ma.”

“Okay. While you’re up there getting a reading, Ren, I’m going to find the Slo-Mo lab and shut that down.” Hux informed Kylo, rolling his shoulders and stretching as best he could. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“I am.” Kylo nodded, “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“Let’s get a move on then.” Hux decided, “Oh and Ren, trust your ninety-nine percent and shoot if you need to.”

The journey up in the service lift felt like it took forever, but all too soon Kylo was stepping off the lift with his own gun pointed at his head, and Jay being forceful with him. Hux was hanging back, crouched down still in the lift to avoid being seen, but high enough to watch what was going on. They hadn’t walked more than five steps before bars shot out of the floor and ceiling, trapping Kylo and Jay inside. Hux’s hands twitched, wanting to spring free of the lift and help, and he saw Kylo’s hands twitching as well, wanting to reach for his hidden weapon.

“Not good, I take it?” Kylo asked drily.

“It’s the work of the security man that works for Ma-Ma.” Jay spat, angry that he had been caught as well, “He’s her little bitch, you’d probably like him.”

Kylo ignored the statement, using Jay’s anger to pull free and test the bars. He was a prisoner although he had his hidden weapon, and Jay pretended to be the captor. The man wasn’t going to play their game as soon as Ma-Ma got hold of them, but for now, he was still theirs.

“They shouldn’t have trapped me too.” Jay continued angrily, “I’m one of the clan. I’ve brought them a Judge.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jay.” A female voice said.

Jay span around to face it. Kylo turned as well, slowly, deliberately, fixing Ma-Ma with a sceptical expression. She barely resembled the photo the paramedic had shown them, with the scars on her face and her short hair and the twisted grin on her lips as she looked over Kylo.

“When you got captured by the Judges, you should have killed them or been killed yourself. However, you let yourself get taken like the dumb fuck you are.”

Jay went red at her words and Kylo bit back a grin.

“I’d kill you myself, but I’ve lost enough today because of these Judges, and you did bring me one of them.” Ma-Ma continued, circling the bars and eying up Kylo. “So here’s my plan instead. There isn’t an information we want from these Judges, we just want to use them to send a message. Sooner or later the Justice Department is going to come through those blast doors, there are already two Judges outside now. When they come, they will find their Judges bodies shot up, one on level twenty-five and one in the Slo-Mo den. It’ll just be a bust that went wrong after the triple homicide that brought them here.”

Kylo felt the arrival of the others of Ma-Ma’s clan before he saw them emerge from the shadows, tensed up as Jay grabbed his bound hands again. They were all armed to the teeth, ready to kill him, but Kylo had no doubt he was going to get free, even if he did pick up a few injuries in the process.

“Did you all hear me?” Ma-Ma snapped. “No torture. No raping, no skinning, nothing. Just a bunch of bullets to the head and chest.”

She turned to Jay, and Kylo glared at her.

“Do you understand me?” She shouted.

“Yes.” Jay replied loudly.

The triumph and fanfare from the clan that they would get to kill a Judge was short lived as another man appeared around the corner of the corridor. Kylo did a double take when he saw him, thinking momentarily it was Hux. It was then that the differences hit him; long, slightly ginger dirty hair, blue eyes that were bionic from what Kylo could tell – he could hear them whirring as they refocused on him instead of Ma-Ma – and pale skin. The stranger’s stance was stooped and his hands were twisting in the hem of his dirty yellow shirt. Kylo sensed nothing but fear and submission from him, and the red skin around the man’s eyes shone a dark crimson in the light. This…this had to be Techie.

Hux’s brother. There were too many similarities for it not to be.

Hux’s twin.

The one who was supposed to be dead. That Hux had been told was dead, by the First Order.

He was here, with the Ma-Ma clan and probably had been for ten years. He wouldn’t recognise Kylo, but Kylo recognise him and his heart constricted. This changed everything…and nothing. Hux had to know, Kylo had to tell him as soon as they reunited that Techie was alive but…then Hux wouldn’t be able to complete the mission. No, Kylo had to keep this secret until Ma-Ma was dead and Hux was mentally capable enough to know the last ten years of his life had been a lie.

“Ma. He’s back. The other Judge.” Techie whispered, hands shaking as all the clan members and Kylo stared at him.

Kylo took a deep breath. Hux was making his move, drawing the majority attention away from Kylo so he could make his escape. The bars disappeared from around him and Jay, prompting Jay to drag him towards a torture room while Ma-Ma ordered half the clan to Hux’s location in the Slo-Mo lab and the other half to go with her into her private quarters.

As Kylo was pulled away, Hux’s voice began to echo throughout the block and he couldn’t help but grin even as he was shoved to the floor at gunpoint.

“ _Inhabitants of Peach Trees, this is Judge A. In case you people have forgotten, this block operates under the same rules as the rest of the city. Ma-Ma is not the law. I am the law. Ma-Ma is a common criminal, guilty of murder, guilty of the manufacture and distribution of the narcotic known as Slo-Mo. And as of now, under sentence of death. Any who obstruct me in carrying out my duty will be treated as an accessory to her crimes. You have been warned. And as for you, Ma-Ma_ …” Hux paused. “ _Judgement time._ ”

The words were very Hux style, and Kylo couldn’t help but laugh. They seemed to have the desired effect as well. Although most of the clan was moving away, Kylo could sense their reaction.

“So…there was some recognition in your eyes when you saw that security man.” Jay laughed, “You realised right? That he’s the twin brother of your friend Judge, working for the enemy, right? It’s hilarious that they’re going to meet. Ma-Ma is infamous, and that little bitch is only helping her. He was out of luck when you first ran into the clan, and now you are too. Did your friend really believe that you could escape when I brought you up here?”

He scoffed as he raised Kylo’s secondary weapon. Kylo watched him, wondering exactly what Hux’s plan had been.

“Any last words?” He asked.

“I think calling Ma-Ma infamous is a bit much, maybe go for crazy or deluded.” Kylo replied, his voice quivering a bit more than he wanted it to.

Jay glared at him and his finger went to the trigger. Just as he went to pull it, the gun flashed up a warning of “ID check failed” and began to blare an alarm at him. When his arm blew off with the force of the explosion of the gun, Jay was so surprised he didn’t fall straight away, he just stared. Kylo stared at the stump too, too shocked to move. He hadn’t known that a Judge’s gun would do that if someone who wasn’t a Judge held them. So this is what Hux meant, Kylo definitely had the best opportunity to escape. He had to find Hux, and then they had to find Ma-Ma and kill her. Standing up, Kylo retrieved his primary weapon and checked how many bullets he had left.

As he moved to leave the torture room he remembered Techie. He couldn’t let Hux see him, he needed to make sure Techie was safe and gone before they went after Ma-Ma. Hux needed to be in a clear mind, otherwise they probably wouldn’t survive. He could reunite with Techie later, when all was said and done, and be better for it. Taking a breath, Kylo left the room and went to hunt Techie down.

He found him in the security room, watching the cameras of Hux fighting the clan members and killing them all effortlessly. He screamed when Kylo grabbed him and pushed him up against one of the wire racks in the room.

“P-please! I’m unarmed! Don’t shoot me! Please! I can help you!” Techie begged, eyes squeezed closed with tears gathering at the corners. Kylo was silent, his powers reacting with him immediately upon touching him. Techie’s memories flooded him, starting from his very first days with Ma-Ma, his eyes being ripped out and new ones forced in, a knife pressed into his gut, the reconditioning of his mind by this terrible woman. The memories underneath that, under the fear and pain of Ma-Ma’s control over him, rushed forward before Kylo could get control. An explosion, a familiar face, and screams.

He pulled back, gasping and Techie fell to his knees, sobbing. Kylo knelt down with him.

“I don’t need you to help me, I need you to get out of here.” He murmured, putting another hand on Techie’s shoulder in what he meant to be a comforting gesture, although it made the man jump again.  
“Listen to me!” Kylo said, firmly, “Get out of here, go down to the ground floor and wait there in the mall. When Ma-Ma is gone I’m going to bring someone to see you, but you have to leave! Set the lockdown to end in twenty minutes and then go!”

Techie seemed too shocked by his words to move for a few moments, but eventually he managed to find his feet and stumble to his keyboard. Kylo stood as well and watched him work, tapping away until a small timer popped up, counting down exactly twenty minutes.

“Don’t run okay. Just stay down there, I promise everything will make sense if you do.” Kylo repeated, “Now go.”

The disbelief and fear on Techie’s face sat uncomfortably in Kylo’s mind. His face was the mirror image of Hux’s and Kylo never wanted to see Hux himself actually make that face. Techie eventually took off, running with the gait of a broken man, spilling panicked words of thanks as he went.

 _Now to find Hux,_ Kylo thought, exhaling sharply through his nose and checking the map laid out on the table to find out where the Slo-Mo lab was.

Things started to go downhill from there, in Kylo’s opinion. As he entered a clan member was laughing, incredulous that Hux had told him to wait as he went to shoot him dead. Kylo shot without thinking and the clan member went down, dead before they hit the floor. When Hux was revealed to him, Kylo panicked. Hux had been shot, a sharp through and through that had pierced a weakness in his armour and he was covered in blood.

“Fuck, Hux are you okay?!” He cried, dropping to his knees and taking Hux’s head, which was starting to loll to the side.

“I’m fine.” He ground out, yanking his chin free of Kylo’s hold and moving his armour apart with trembling fingers to reveal the wounds. “Get the medical kit.”

Kylo fumbled for it quickly, withdrawing a cauterising gun and stitches. Hux dealt with the front wound, stopping the bleeding with a quick cauterisation and then using the special stitch machine to pull the flesh together for an easy fix. Kylo had to work on his back, and Hux hissed but managed to keep his voice down as Kylo worked. There were easily thirty bodies on the floor, Kylo noted as he helped Hux back to his feet, all dead by Hux’s hand except for one, and he himself had only sustained one injury.

“Are you hurt?” Hux asked gruffly.

“No I’m fine, most of the clan that weren’t in here are with Ma-Ma in her private quarters. I know how to get us there.” Kylo replied quietly. He bit his lip. He really should tell Hux about Techie but he knew exactly what would happen. Hux was already trembling from a wound, he couldn’t deal him another blow.

“Then what’s wrong with you?” Hux snapped, “Something is different with you. Did you see something when you were with the clan?”

“No.” Kylo repeated firmly, “I didn’t see anything except my gun explode and probably kill a man from shock. A warning would have been nice.”

“You didn’t know they did that?” Hux questioned, frowning, “I thought all rookies’ learnt that?”

“Clearly not.” Kylo muttered, “Look I know where Ma-Ma is, shall we finish this?”

Hux nodded. He tried to walk but stumbled and Kylo had to grab him.

“Can you do this?!” Kylo asked worriedly.

“You’re distracted too,” Hux pointed out hoarsely, “Can I trust you to have my back?”

“You’re alive aren’t you?” Kylo retorted. “I’m fine, you’re less fine but in good enough condition, so let’s go.”

“Just remember that Ma-Ma is mine.” Hux reminded him coldly, gritting his teeth as he turned this way and that to make sure he was still good enough to move.

“I won’t get in your way.” Kylo promised, watching him.

“You better not.”

The corridors were empty as they walked towards Ma-Ma’s private bunker. Hux walked with a slight limp from the bullet wound but otherwise seemed fine. They walked past the security room and Hux ducked inside to make sure no one was there. Kylo waited outside, knowing if he walked in he wouldn’t be able to stop himself blurting out that Techie was alive.

Hux leant heavily against the wire racks in the room, holding his stomach.

“Do you need a break?” Kylo asked gently. “We could talk a little bit and get you in the right mood.”

“Wha-…are you serious?” We don’t have time to talk, she could have a way to escape. I’m fine.” Hux spat. “We’ve already talked okay, and now we’re here to Judge. So let’s go.”

“You really need to do something about your emotional constipation.” Kylo sighed, but he nodded, letting Hux take the lead.

There was a dangerous flash in Hux’s eyes as he passed him and made his way towards the metal door that Ma-Ma was hiding behind. As soon as they entered, guns raised and ready to take Ma-Ma down, a gunfight ensued while Ma-Ma stood at the back of the room and watched. Her personal guard were not trained well enough to take down two Judges, even with Hux injured as he was, and the fight didn’t last more than a few minutes. Ma-Ma knew that the end was coming, and she pulled a gun from one of her dead clan members and shot Kylo. He wasn’t quick enough to notice, and the bullet ripped through his shoulder and knocked him to the floor. He shot her back, catching her in the stomach, and Hux took down the rest of the men.

“Do you need the first aid kit?” Hux asked quietly, gun trained on Ma-Ma as she leant heavily on the railing at the back of the room.

“No, just finish this!” Kylo barked.

Ma-Ma chuckled darkly. “You’re a piece of work, Judge.” She said, her voice tight. “And you’ve got terrible aim.” She added, directing the words at Kylo.

“Actually I have pretty good aim.” Kylo replied, hand on his shoulder to try and staunch the blood flow, “But he told me he wanted the joy of killing you, and I’m not spoiling that for him.”

Hux glanced at him. Ma-Ma had the audacity to grin, as if she was the one with the upper hand. Neither Judge was surprised.

“Isn’t it unlucky for you that I’m a piece of work too,” She stated, holding up her left arm to show them a small button attached to her skin. It was shining even in the dim light of the room and she seemed to believe it was her ticket out. The pain from the gunshot wound was interfering with his powers – Hux had been right all along even though the shot hadn’t been to his head and a helmet wouldn’t have helped – but Kylo tried to read her nonetheless. Hux didn’t seem to care.   
“Did you think I didn’t know that one day I’d get busted?” She continued, “It comes with the territory. But let me explain. This entire level is rigged with explosives, enough to take out the top fifty levels. If they go, so will the rest. And this transmitter here is the key. It’s linked to my heart beat, so my heart stops beating and the building blows. You’ve really got no way out.”

Hux gave a derisive laugh as she stopped talking, and began to step towards her, teeth grit against the pain in his stomach as he moved. Ma-Ma was bleeding sluggishly, but she was ignoring her wound. Kylo moved as well, flanking her, making sure she had no escape routes.

“It’s funny you think I’d fall for the same thing twice.” Hux sneered. Ma-Ma frowned at the wording, but Hux continued before she could speak, “This isn’t a negotiation. The judgement for you is death.”

“Do you even know how many people live in this block?” Ma-Ma queried. There was a thread of nervousness in her, Kylo noticed, forcing through the pain to read her. She believed Hux didn’t care, that he would sacrifice the entire block if needed.

Kylo began to wonder the same thing.

“It’s not a negotiation.” Hux repeated and fired.

The bullet caught Ma-Ma in the gut as well in the opposite side that Kylo had and she fell backwards onto the makeshift bed behind her. The sheets slowly began to turn crimson as Hux walked towards her, stopping only to stoop and grab a Slo-Mo inhaler that had been dropped in the previous gun fight. Kylo continued to flank him, keeping his distance.

“Citizen Ma-Ma.” Hux stated, grabbing Ma-Ma tightly by the straps of her shirt and lifting her from the bed. He thrust her against the window that led out onto the middle of the block, a drop that the victims of the triple homicide had experienced beforehand. One of Hux’s hands went to Ma-Ma’s neck, pinning her there and choking off her airway. “Your crimes are multiple homicide, the manufacture and distribution of narcotics and the kidnapping, torture and brainwashing of a Judge. How do you plead?”

Ma-Ma frowned again. Kylo watched her face carefully and it was clear when the penny dropped and she realised exactly who it was that was holding her.

“Are you really going to do this?” She spat, “You’ll kill everyone in the block!”

“I don’t think so.” Hux smirked, “The height of this building…what is the range of that thing, hmm?”

Kylo realised exactly what Hux was about to do a second too late to stop him, yelling his name despite that. “Hux-!”

Quicker than Ma-Ma could react, Hux forced the Slo-Mo inhaler into her mouth and squeezed it, releasing the drug into her system in one smooth motion. Her eyes widened comically slowly as she came to the same conclusion that Kylo had moments before, but she was unable to stop it as Hux shoved her backwards through the window. Shattered glass rained down towards the ground floor of the block and Ma-Ma’s body followed. Without thinking Kylo ran to the window to watch her fall even as Hux turned and walked away. When the sound of her splatting against the ground reached Kylo’s ears, Hux had already left the room, stumbling down the corridor towards the service lift with one hand on his stomach. There was nothing left of Ma-Ma that was distinctly human shaped after the fall, and Kylo’s stomach rolled.

Judges had to kill people, and sometimes they didn’t have the choice but to use terrible methods, but Kylo was sure Hux had had a choice. Ma-Ma had rigged the building with explosives, they could have easily brought her down to the ground floor and executed her, but Hux had wanted revenge. Kylo understood why, but it didn’t make him feel any better at witnessing that method of death. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kylo realised Hux had already reached the lift and was waiting for him, so he ran to catch up.

“Did you know that the transmitter wouldn’t reach this high?” He asked quietly, his shoulder and entire arm aching from the bullet wound.

“I’m good at reading people.” Hux shrugged, “And I know that transmitter.”

Kylo swallowed nervously, “Oh?”

“Techie used to make them but for a different reason.” Hux explained quietly, “We’d have them attached to our wrists so if we ever had to split up during a mission and something went wrong, we’d be alerted to it and could come to the other’s aid. It would work well in situations like this where comms don’t work.”

“Huh…that’s actually pretty cool.” Kylo muttered, “So how did Ma-Ma get that technology?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” Hux asked as calmly as he could, keeping his eyes fixed on the door of the lift as they moved swiftly down towards the ground floor.

“What do you mean?” Kylo questioned.

“Drop the act, Ren.” Hux snapped, “I know you saw something when you were with the clan! And that transmitter…I don’t think Ma-Ma could have created that technology herself, she’s not that clever and none of the clan are either. Tell me what happened?!”

“I…look Hux before you freak out, I didn’t want to tell you before we killed Ma-Ma because I didn’t want you to break down.” Kylo began quickly, “When I was with the clan I saw someone who I thought could only be Techie.”

Hux’s lip twitched angrily, and Kylo saw his hand go for his gun. He grabbed him quickly and pinned him up against the side of the lift despite the protest of the bullet wound in his shoulder.

“Look I’ve never seen your brother okay! But I saw someone up there who looked the exact image of you! So just…I don’t know it could have been someone else! But you asked what I saw okay? The person who I saw I told to wait in the lobby so will you just wait and see for yourself?!” Kylo demanded.

“Fine.” Hux huffed, pushing Kylo off him.

Kylo didn’t speak again, and Hux seemed to get lost deep in thought immediately after he was let go. The lift ride down to the lobby seemed to take forever, and Hux was a nervous wreck by the time the lift came to a halt and the doors opened. Hux stepped out, head held high despite the pain. The blast doors were still down, and there was a single figure standing in the middle of the mall, staring down at Ma-Ma’s broken body. Kylo recognised him as the man, Techie, that he had released from upstairs. His blue eyes met Kylo’s across the room and a terrified expression took over his features.

“That’s him.” Kylo said, nodding at him.

Hux didn’t reply. His stride had failed as soon as he had seen Techie, stumbling to a halt as he realised that the man standing there was indeed the brother he had thought dead for ten years. Techie was afraid, all he could see of Hux was a helmet and Judge armour.

“Techie.” He whispered. “It’s…it’s Techie.”

“Take your helmet off.” Kylo told him, “He doesn’t know who you are.”

Hux’s hands shook as he reached up to pull his helmet off and across the room Techie’s eyes widened as he recognised his brother as well. Before anyone else could speak Hux was gone, running across the mall towards his brother, his shoes loud on the floor. Kylo watched, gun out to make sure he could shoot down anyone that may be waiting to attack the Judges. Techie didn’t move, but he opened his arms when Hux barrelled into him, gathering his brother into his arms with a cry of “Techie!”

The force of his run had then both falling to the floor, Techie’s face buried into Hux’s shoulder and Hux gripping him tightly.

“A-Armitage.” Techie stuttered, sobs beginning to slowly rack his shoulders. “You…it was…you were the Judge?”

“Yes. Techie, it’s me. I’m here.” Hux whispered, trying to gather his brother as close to him as possible.

“Armitage!” Techie repeated his name, choking around the word but said nothing else.

Hux understood, words stuck in his throat as he breathed in the underlying familiar scent of his brother and felt tears threatening to spill over. All this time Techie had been trying to kill a couple of unknown Judges, with no idea it had been his brother. His actions had trapped Hux inside and under Ma-Ma’s orders had participated in unspeakable crimes. Now Hux was here, holding him in his arms, the guilt came flooding in, along with a fear that his brother wouldn’t be able to protect him. He wanted to explain, Hux could sense it from the way he kept opening and closing his mouth, attempting to stutter out words. Hux didn’t need an explanation, but it didn’t stop his brother from forcing the words out through sobs.

“I can…explain. I can explain! I wasn’t…it wasn’t voluntary. I thought…I really thought I was going to…die when we came here and…then when they came for m-me I assumed it would…be okay. Armitage I…I’m sorry!” As he had been speaking, Techie had pushed himself out of Hux’s arms and thrown himself down on the floor in a strange form of supplication. Hux was too taken aback to say anything, or stop him. “When I…there was torture and r-reprogramming and I couldn’t stop myself I was…afraid of her. Armitage please don’t-.”

Hux silenced Techie’s plea by pulling him back into a hug harshly, arms tightly wrapping around his brother’s waist and refusing to let him go. Techie sobbed, burying his face into Hux’s shoulder again, and from the way he went slightly boneless in Hux’s arm told his brother exactly how relieved he was that Hux wasn’t angry. Hux was crying too, his tears wetting Techie’s shirt and letting his twin know exactly how he felt. They remained like that, crying into each other’s shoulders, until a loud noise startled Techie back.

“It’s okay.” Kylo said, making Hux jump as well. Neither Hux twin had realised that the dark-haired Judge had come over to stand next to them, “It’s just the blast doors opening.”

“There will be Judges coming in.” Hux realised, “They’ll try and take him! Ren, they can’t, he’s a victim!”

“Don’t worry.” Kylo smiled, bending down to kiss Hux’s cheek much to the red-haired man’s surprise. “I won’t let them.”

“You need medical attention.” Hux stated, glancing at Kylo’s right hand, which was dripping blood onto the floor. “Let me talk to them.”

“Are you sure you won’t shoot them?” Kylo asked pointedly, “Because that would split you up.”

Hux rolled his eyes, “I’ll be fine.” He turned back to Techie, who was shaking at the sound of footsteps approaching them, and alarms from paramedic vehicles waiting to take any injured to a nearby hospital.   
“Can you stand?” He asked quietly.

Techie nodded, biting his lip.

“Don’t worry Techie, I won’t let them hurt you.” Hux murmured soothingly. He linked their fingers together tightly as four Judges came in with their guns raised. Kylo met them easily, waving off their concerns at his bloody right hand and arm, and informed them as to what had happened and that there were many floors of Peach Trees that had criminals locked up that needed to be taken to the cubes. Hux waited with Techie, eyes narrowed to make sure no Judges were coming over to them.

Kylo was grabbed by a paramedic, who commanded him towards one of the ambulances. He tried to argue, but the paramedic wouldn’t hear of it, and Kylo shot an apologetic look at Hux, who gestured for him to listen to the paramedic and get sorted out. Techie began to shake even worse when Sloane appeared, walking smoothly into the building and making a beeline for Hux.

“Judge Hux, you are unharmed then.” She said, eyes flicking from Hux to Techie and back. There was no sign of recognition on her face, only a frown and a shine of relief in her eyes that Hux was okay.

“I am.” Hux nodded. Techie was trying to hide behind him, shrinking into himself as much as he could. “We made a discovery during the bust.” Hux continued.

“I assume it is this man?” Sloane assumed.

“Yes.” Hux nodded, “This is Techie. My twin, the one you said was dead.”

Sloane’s eyebrows raised as she looked over Techie again. As Kylo had said there was no denying it, the similarities between them were too great. Hux waited with baited breath for her to make her assumptions about Techie, ready to defend his brother if needed. Techie was shaking with sobs, although his eyes were dry.

“What happened to him?” Sloane asked.

“Torture and reconditioning by Ma-Ma.” Hux replied instantly. “We rescued him after going after her, you can see her remains there.” He gestured to the blood and flesh lump that had once been Ma-Ma. “What do you intend to do with him?”

Sloane heard the warning in Hux’s tone, read the tension in his body and knew despite the tears in Hux’s eyes that he would fight to the death to keep them from taking his brother away from them.

“Get to the hospital and have him checked over for any physical problems.” She replied carefully, “And then report to the Hall of Justice. We’ll conduct a mental examination to make sure he did not participate in any crimes willingly, and then he will be free to live with you as an innocent.”

“I will sit in on the mental examination.” Hux said quickly, “You’re not separating us.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that, Hux.” Sloane replied calmly, “But that is the procedure. Now, get out of here and go to hospital with your partner.”

Hux nodded and wrapped an arm around Techie’s shoulders to bundle him outside. His brother blinked and sheltered his eyes from the sunlight as they left. It was the first time he had stepped outside in ten years, and his sobs calmed as he took in the ‘fresh’ air of Coruscant.

“Are they…are they going to take me away?” He asked quietly as Hux guided him towards the ambulance that Kylo was sitting in the back of while a paramedic worked over his shoulder.

“No.” Hux said firmly, “No. They’ll have to go through me, and you know how tough I am.”

Techie gave a timid smile at the joke, and Hux’s heart tightened at the sight. He had missed Techie’s smile so much, but it was only a shadow of the smile he remembered. _No,_ Hux thought angrily, _it’s good to just see him smile._ Kylo offered Techie a soft smile when the two of them climbed into the back of the ambulance as well.

“So, we’re car sharing?” He joked.

“Clearly.” Hux said drily, “Techie…this is Kylo Ren, my partner. We’ve only been working together for two months. He’ll help me protect you.”

“Um…yeah we…we met. He l-let me leave without killing me.” Techie whispered, “Armitage…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to me again.” Hux warned him, “I don’t blame you, I blame that bitch. If I had known you were alive she wouldn’t have died so easily.”

“Can’t say she died easily.” Kylo muttered, “Really.”

“Easily enough!” Hux snapped, “Let’s just get all of these examinations over! Get us to the hospital!”


End file.
